Rothbury, MI - Late in the winter of 2023 Rothbury, Michigan's Winston Speedway changed hands and was purchased by Scott and Pam Phillips; among the changes made under the new ownership was the decision to revert back to American Racer tires on the Super Late Model division. Under previous ownership, Winston Speedway switched from using American Racers to becoming UMP-sanctioned and using Hoosier Tires amid struggling car counts.
So far this season, Winston Speedway has again struggled to pull Super Late Models to the facility. Since opening night, the race track has not seen more than 10 cars in the Super Late Model class. Phillips initially told Horsepower Happenings he was moving back to American Racers in conjunction with Thunderbird and Crystal Motor Speedway to help competitors with alleged cost-effectiveness and longer-lasting tires. While the social media announcement regarding the change to DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned Late Models does not specifically point to car counts as the reason for the change, it almost certainly seems that would be the motivation. Find below the announcement that was posted on social media...
For Immediate Release (5/23/2023); Winston Speedway, Rothbury MI will be a UMP-sanctioned facility for UMP Late Model Racing for the balance of the 2023 season. This means that the tire rules must be updated to follow UMP guidelines, all Late Models must run the NLMT 3 on all four corners of the car with an option of an NLMT 4 on the Right Rear Only. We look forward to seeing you for some exciting racing action on Friday night.
Winston Speedway will allow teams to use the LM30/LM40 on their respective corners of the car for the balance of the 2023 season.